The invention relates to electric switches in general, and more particularly to improvements in so-called pushbutton switches wherein a reciprocable plunger or an analogous mobile part is movable from an extended position to a depressed or operative position in which it completes one or more electric circuits. Electric pushbutton switches of such character can be used with advantage in control panels, distribution boards and like devices wherein a large number of switches must be mounted in one or more groups or arrays for convenient manipulation by an operator.
Electric pushbutton switches of the type to which the present invention pertains are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,242,544, 4,242,545, 4,398,075, 4,507,528 and 4,766,306, and in Swiss Pat. No. 612 791. An advantage of the electric pushbutton switch which is disclosed in the Swiss patent is that the terminals for various electric contacts are disposed in a plane extending at right angles to the direction of reciprocatory movement of the depressible plunger and are readily accessible after the switch is installed in the mounting plate of a control panel or the like. A drawback of the patented switch is that, if the plunger is to engage two or more mobile contacts with a corresponding number of fixed contacts, engagement or disengagement of all mobile contacts with or from the respective fixed contacts does not always take place at the same time, mainly due to manufacturing tolerances and/or as a result of wear upon the contacts and/or other parts of the switch.